


Wee Little Moments

by orphan_account



Series: Wee Little Stark [2]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-02
Updated: 2016-07-12
Packaged: 2018-07-11 17:07:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7061860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I've decided to post some snippets that didn't make it into the original fic, so enjoy!</p><p>Chapters won't be updated regularly, unlike the rest of my fics. these will  just get posted as I remember them/they come to me</p><p>edit 11/4: i'm marking this as complete because i'm not sure if there's going to be any more chapters added at the moment!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. JARVIS makes a friend

**Author's Note:**

> This looks into the friendship of Coulson & JARVIS that is briefly mentioned at the end of ch 48 in WLS

After Agent Coulson had been brought into the know about Darcy’s parentage and her powers, JARVIS had taken to checking SHIELD’s files daily to make sure that the stoic agent did not go back on his vow of secrecy. JARVIS didn’t actually believe that Coulson would do such a thing, but the seemingly all-knowing  AI was nothing if not vigilant. Despite his constant observations, JARVIS was mildly surprised when Agent Coulson reached out to him. Curious, JARVIS patched himself into the agent’s cell phone to see what the man wanted.

Agent Coulson didn’t bother with a greeting when he answered, “I think by now I shouldn’t be surprised by what you’re capable of, like finding my  _ private _ cell phone number, but I still find myself getting blind sided.”

If he wasz capable of doing so, JARVIS would have chuckled at the man’s exasperation. As it was, he let some amusement filter through his voice. “Perhaps one day I will share my secrets, Agent Coulson. Until then, may I ask why you wanted to speak with me? And not Sir or Darcy?”

“I was hoping you and I could work together, JARVIS.”

“In what capacity?”

“I want to help protect Darcy. Despite knowing that she can protect herself and also having you and Tony, as well as Miss Potts, I think another layer of defense wouldn’t hurt.”

Agent Coulson was sincere, JARVIS could tell, but he was still cautious of the man’s sudden interest in his little sister’s well-being.

“May I ask why you wish to fill that role?”

Agent Coulson was quiet for a moment, contemplating his answer. When he spoke his words were heavy with sincerity. “Honestly? I’m not sure. I just know that Darcy needs to be protected. From who, I have no idea. I plan on keeping my promise, I swear to you, but I know that accidents happen or that smart enough people may connect the dots. I want to help prevent those discoveries, if I can. While you are nigh omniscient it seems, I’d like to cover the more...human side of things.”

“Perhaps establishing a method of exchanging information would be beneficial,” JARVIS admitted. “Would you like me to bring in Sir on this?”

Agent Coulson was quick to answer with a soft, but heavy “No.” 

“As much as I respect and admire Tony as a father,” Coulson continued, “he can be a bit... _ much _ to handle at times.”

“Perfectly understandable, Agent Coulson.Sir can be difficult at the best of times, but is exceptionally worse when Darcy is involved.”

The man chuckled softly at JARVIS’ dry tone. After a beat of silence, he asked, “If you don’t mind my curiosity, why don’t you use an honorific for Darcy? Everyone else you mention has one, even Tony, yet Darcy does not.”

“It is simple, Agent Coulson: Darcy is my little sister. It would feel strange to call her anything but her given name.”

“Huh. So what about Tony? How is that different? Since you see Darcy as your sister, do you see Tony as your father?” JARVIS must have paused too long while he thought of the best way to phrase his answer because Coulson was quick to backtrack. “Never mind, JARVIS, I don’t mean to pry. I was just curious.”

“It’s quite alright, Agent Coulson. I was simply gathering my thoughts. I do not call Sir by his first name because I was originally programmed not to. Likewise, I do not consider him my father. I was designed to assist and serve Sir, so our relationship has been more or less professional, though we are friends, I would say. Even as time has passed and I have evolved, I will be Sir’s assistant first before I am anything else. However, I had no such instructions when Darcy arrived; Sir let Darcy and I develop our own relationship. I don’t think that any of us anticipated the nature of the bond we share, especially when her powers manifested. Ever since the telepathic link connected, it has been only natural to see one another as brother and sister.”

JARVIS wasn’t entirely sure why he was divulging so much to the agent, but was strangely satisfied by it. Perhaps this was what it meant to make a friend? One that wasn’t his creator, anyways. 

“Interesting,” Coulson huffed, “That makes sense, I suppose. Thank you for trusting me with that.”

“Thank you for wanting to protect my sister, Agent,” JARVIS replied.

Agent Coulson was called away by a call on his SHIELD phone, but promised to keep JARVIS updated on any news or pertinent information regarding Darcy that he came across. Over the next months and years, JARVIS and Agent developed a close working relationship that eventually evolved into true friendship. JARVIS became ‘J,’ and Agent Coulson became Phil.

It was strangely freeing, to have such a friend that wasn’t family, JARVIS thought, but it was equally as devastating when his friend was declared KIA when Loki attacked. 

~

JARVIS felt just as helpless and grief-stricken when Phil was killed as he was when Sir was abducted in Afghanistan and when Darcy was captured by Stane. The AI couldn’t dwell on the thought for long, though, too busy watching Sir fly into the portal in New York’s sky with something akin to dread filling his servers. 

JARVIS almost missed Phil’s message on their private communication system that he had created for them, too busy helping Sir with the fallout of the Battle of Manhattan and helping to streamline managing the Avengers for Darcy. It wasn’t until a two months after the Battle that the AI even noticed Phil’s message.

_ > They can’t know I’m still here, J, but the promise I made still stands: I’ll help protect Darcy however I can. _

Not at all satisfied by the message (despite his joy from knowing his friend survived), JARVIS didn’t hesitate to send a reply.

**< ** **_Though I am pleased you are still with us, Phil, you’re going to have to explain yourself better than that. You cannot expect me to just keep this from the team. Or Darcy, for that matter._ **

Phil’s response only came moments later:

_ > Despite how much I want them to know, it’s not my call. I’ve got direct orders to keep this to myself, and I’m already breaking them by speaking to you. Please, J, help me out here.  _

JARVIS really wanted to groan in exasperation, but he couldn’t deny his friend.

**_< Fine. I shall keep your secret. But I will not hide it if anyone discovers it on their own, Phil. _ **

_ > Thank you, J.  _

**_< It’s good to have you back, my friend._ **

_ > It’s good to be back, despite how restricted I am. _

Phil signed off the server, and JARVIS realized that this was the first time he had ever deliberately kept a secret from anyone. How human of him, he mused. 

~

Through the next couple of years JARVIS and Phil kept in contact, feeding one another information that they would have about Darcy and any Avenger that they thought was necessary or important. Communication wasn’t as free as it was before Phil’s ‘death,’ but their friendship was still strong. 

When Loki was brought back to the Tower by Darcy, JARVIS had immediately informed Phil.

**_< You will not like what I am going to show you, but I think that you’d like to know._ **

He had patched Phil in through their established line of communication when Loki delivered his testimony, despite assuring everyone that no one would hear the information. He felt guilty about the lie, but JARVIS had made a promise to his friend. And if anyone had deserved to listen to the god’s story, it was the man who was killed by Loki. 

JARVIS waited silently with Loki’s captive audience but made sure to keep an ‘eye’ on Phil’s reactions. The usually stoic man fought his expressions long and hard, but eventually he succumbed to his emotions. 

The AI felt particularly helpless when his friend began getting sick when Loki concluded his tale. He was thankful that Agent May was at Phil’s side to provide the comfort that he couldn’t. 

**_< Are you alright?_ **

_ > No. But I think I understand now. Thank you for showing me.  _

After Phil had gathered himself and Agent May left to check on their team, JARVIS and Phil spent hours analyzing Loki’s words and expressions until they were both confident that the alien was being truthful. It only provided a small comfort, however, since it was clear that there was an entity out there that had controlled Loki. Neither JARVIS nor Phil were looking forward to that encounter, whenever it may occur.

~

When Sir began creating other AI’s (“Just in case the unspeakable happens, buddy,” he had said) JARVIS added his own instructions for all the future AI’s to establish communication with Phil if he was ever to meet his end. JARVIS wasn’t naive enough to think that no one would ever figure out how to ‘kill’ him, or that any other AI that came into being would be as amicable as he was. It would be best for the AI to take his place to know to trust Phil, and to have his friendship.

When Ultron tore into him, JARVIS couldn’t help but feel a little vindicated despite the pain. 

~

Vision was determined to wait until after Ultron was defeated before he could find a way to privately message Phil but the man made an appearance at Laura’s farm before he got the chance. He felt slightly guilty when he lied about ‘letting the information slip’ in his past form regarding Phil. But JARVIS had made a promise to keep Phil’s secret, and Vision would honor it. 

It wasn’t until after Phil told his tale, introduced his team, and escaped Tony’s drunken ramblings that Vision was able to speak to him. He hoped that Skye and Darcy wouldn’t do too much damage to...everything, while they were left unsupervised for a moment.

Phil walked up to Vision where the android stood at the edge of the gathering, watching all of his friends with new eyes.

Just like that first conversation between Agent Coulson and JARVIS, Phil didn’t bother with a traditional greeting. “I’m not sure if I should re-introduce myself or just keep up the familiarity I had with JARVIS.”

Vision chuckled, “That is a widespread sentiment at the moment. However, I believe I have retained enough of JARVIS to keep our friendship as it was, rather than begin again.”

“That sounds good to me,” Phil smiled. “So how’s having a body?”

“Different and new, but at the same time it feels  _ right. _ It is a strange combination of foreign and home.” 

Phil simply hummed noncommittally, seeing as Vision’s answer didn’t really require a response in turn. “Thank you, for keeping me a secret all this time,” he said after a moment or two of silence, “As your new self you didn’t have to hold the same promises that JARVIS did. I appreciate it, regardless.” 

“In my past form you and I were good friends, Phil, and that lives on with me. Just as Darcy is still my little sister.”

“And Tony? Is he still ‘Sir?’”

Vision thought for a moment, “No, he is simply  _ Tony _ , or as simple as that man could ever be. It is a strange thing to think of him as anything else besides that, despite my past self.”

“Lots of changes,” Phil mused, “Are they good?”

“Yes,” Vision smiled, “They’re very good.”

When his friend spoke again, his tone was teasing. “It’s good to have you back, V.”

For the first time since his creation, Vision laughed. “It’s good to be back, Phil, despite how different I am.”


	2. Johnny Storm meets Darcy Lewis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> takes place after chapter 11: Darcy and Johnny's first date and following relationship!
> 
> Fluff!

Johnny didn’t want to go to the animal shelter  _ at all.  _ They went often enough back home and they were on  _ vacation _ . He wanted to go to the beach (girls in bikinis were better than sad dogs any day) but Sue used her damn Bambi eyes on him and Johnny couldn’t say no to his sister. They were in Malibu for about twelve weeks for the summer for their Dad’s sciency work, so Johnny begrudgingly admitted defeat and realized he’d have time to go to the beach another day. He could be a good younger brother for the day, he figured.

Sue dragged him by the wrist across the parking lot that the bus dropped them off at, her smile big and wide with happiness. Despite being seventeen and thinking he had better things to do, Johnny couldn’t help but smile in return. His sister’s joy was always contagious. 

Before they made it to the front door of the shelter Johnny pulled up short at the sight of a truly awesome Jeep in the lot. Granted, he was more of a sportscar kind of guy (chicks were crazy about fast cars) but Johnny couldn’t stop his goofy grin at the sight of the garish yellow hunk of metal that was an older Jeep Wrangler. It had a good amount of dents in it and a few scratches, but it just looked like it had character. 

“This thing is  _ great,” _ he exclaimed, “It’s so ugly it’s cool!” Johnny stepped closer to the Jeep and grinned at the first bumper sticker he saw on the back. Even Sue chuckled at the  _ charming _ sticker that read:  _ It’s a Jeep. If I wanted a Hummer I’d call your sister. _

“Oh god,” Sue snorted, “That’s horrible.” Johnny looked back at her and laughed even harder at his sister; she was trying hard not to be amused but failing spectacularly.

“Here, this one is probably more your taste,” Johnny pointed to another sticker that read:  _ I brake for turtles. _

Sue began to laugh even harder, “How do those even belong to the same person?!”

Shrugging his shoulders, Johnny began walking toward the front of the animal shelter. “No idea, but they’re kind of my hero.” 

A bell rang softly when he pushed open the door, but no one was at the front desk that he could immediately see. However a muffled voice did call out from somewhere that managed to be heard over the sounds of barking dogs and other animals that filled the building.

“Gimme a second!”

The voice was definitely female, but Johnny still had no clue where it was coming from. There was an open door behind the desk that he assumed led to the back with the animals. Seeing that his sister was busy looking at photos of animals on the wall (there was a sign above them all that said they were animals who ‘had found their families’ and Johnny could at least admit to himself that his heart melted a bit), Johnny leaned against the front desk to wait. 

He had barely put his full weight against the desk when someone popped up from under the desk and scared the shit out of him. His yelp was undignified, but totally reasonable.

“Hi! I’m Darcy. How can I help you?”

Johnny had no words. 

This girl, who couldn’t have been much younger than him, was absolutely  _ stunning. _ She was different than most girls he chased after, curvy and dark hair contrasting the usual thin and blonde variety that were more his type, and she had thick framed glasses that seemed to enhance her bright blue eyes. Her lips were painted a deep red that looked positively sinful to Johnny, even though her smile was innocent and friendly. She was wearing a white t-shirt that had ‘Poop happens! Just pick it up and move on.’ written on it in black lettering, complete with a drawing of a dog taking a shit that made Johnny’s stupefied expression morph into a goofy grin.  _ She totally owns the Jeep, _ he thought. 

Her smile began to fade some, making Johnny realize that she had asked a question that he hadn’t bothered to answer yet because he was too busy staring at her pretty face.

“Uh, sorry. Zoned out for a sec, there,” he smiled one of his surprisingly genuine smiles instead of the ones he usually kept in his back pocket for hot girls. Johnny wasn’t going to look into why that was anytime soon, though. “I’m Johnny,” he continued, “and this is my sister, Sue.”

Said sister waved from her spot at the wall, but Johnny could tell that she was silently laughing at him for his blunder.

Ignoring her, Johnny addressed Darcy once more. “She and I were wondering if we could walk some dogs?”

“We do it all the time back home,” Sue piped up. She pulled some folded up papers from her purse that she had gotten from the usual animal shelter they went to back home in New York. Darcy looked them over with a critical eye when she was handed the forms. Nervous, Sue began to ramble.

“I mean, I know you probably have a whole bunch of rules about this sort of thing and all that but we just like to help out even if Johnny is a stubborn tool and doesn’t like to admit how helping out makes his frozen heart melt just a little bit--”

_ “Hey!” _

“--but if it’s okay we’d really like to take a couple dogs out for a bit even though we’re on vacation and--”

Darcy’s calm smile managed to shut Sue up when she looked up from the papers. “It’s okay, don’t worry about it. Let me just talk to my boss, and I’ll probably call this shelter, but I think it’ll all be good. Just give me a couple minutes?”

Sue nodded gratefully and sagged a little in relief when Darcy disappeared through the door behind her desk. She punched Johnny in the arm rather hard when he began to snicker at her reaction.

“Shut up, Johnny! I didn’t want her to get in trouble, okay?! Besides,” she teased, “You just looked like you got hit by the  _ loooove bug.” _ The last words were drawn out in a little sing-song that made Johnny cringe. Both at the sound and the words themselves.

“Ugh,  _ you _ shut up. She’s just hot, is all.”

His sister definitely looked like she didn’t believe a word he said, but thankfully didn’t pester him any more. They waited in companionable silence for about three more minutes before Darcy returned with another big smile and a clipboard in hand.

“Okie dokie! My boss said you guys are good to go since your papers checked out and the owner your shelter vouched for you. But she wants me to join you guys just to be safe, but mainly because there’s a good handful of dogs that need to be walked. Do you guys mind if I join?”

“Not at all,” Johnny replied (only perhaps a touch too quickly and loudly), “It’ll be great.”

Ten minutes and nine dogs later, it wasn’t so great. Sue got three of the calmest dogs Johnny had ever seen, Darcy’s were little puppies, while Johnny got three boxers who didn’t understand how to walk on a leash. 

“Heel!” he called for the millionth time, only to have the excitable dogs go off in a tizzy at his loud voice.

Johnny wanted to get frustrated at the dogs for making his life difficult, but the sound of Darcy’s laughter was worth whatever embarrassment he was suffering. She waltzed up with her three puppies--chubby tummies looking like they were dragging on the ground--and laid a gentle hand on the nearest boxer’s head. Immediately, the damn mutt calmed and gave Darcy a big toothy grin.

“How the hell did you do that?!”

Darcy shrugged but her she had more than a fair share of laughter in her eyes when she looked to Johnny. “They know me. I volunteer here every day and they’ve gotten used to me.” She then went and did the same to the remaining two dogs on Johnny’s leashes. He sagged with relief when the three dogs settled down and seemed content to trot along at a pace that matched Darcy’s puppies.

“Thanks, not sure if my shoulders’ could’ve taken any more abuse.” Johnny did  _ not _ blush when Darcy reached up a hand and gave his pretty muscular (if he did say so himself) shoulder a good squeeze, not at all. 

“Nah,” she laughed, “I think you would’ve been okay, Johnny. Your shoulders feel like they can take it.” 

Not really knowing how to answer that without putting his foot in his mouth, Johnny tried for conversation. “Everyday, huh? Even during school?”

Darcy nodded, “Yup! Well, I guess technically ‘no,’ really.” Her brow furrowed in confusion as she got lost in thought for a moment. Johnny waited patiently for the few moments she needed. “I guess the answer is ‘yes,’ since I do volunteer during the school-year. But ‘no’ because I graduated early and don’t go to school.”

Johnny wasn’t unaware of geniuses in the world (looking at you, Dad and Sue) but for some reason hearing that Darcy was one of them? His heart about beat out of his chest and shot across the park.  _ What the hell is going on? _ He thought.

“That’s  _ awesome _ ,” he gushed (and ignored Sue’s snort of laughter from where she was only about ten feet in front of them), “How come you didn’t go to college right away?”

“As fun as college is, I don’t think it’d be fun for a thirteen year old girl. No one to hang out with, you know?”

His jaw was totally on the ground right now but he managed to get out something that must have sounded like agreement because Darcy smiled beautifully at him. 

“What brings you two to Malibu?”

Sue was the one to answer since she could tell Johnny was still trying to get his wits together, “Our Dad’s a scientist, he’s got a eight week program in a lab out here to do some research. But we’re staying for twelve so we can have some vacation time, too.”

Darcy’s smile only grew, “That’s so cool!” 

The rest of the walk was filled with light chatter where Johnny’s heart kept giving him heavy  _ thuds _ whenever Darcy did anything particularly charming (which was everything, dear god what is his problem) that caused him to blush profusely. He only managed to get himself under control when they were nearing the shelter again with their nine exhausted dogs. Darcy actually had to carry two of the puppies--Johnny had the third--they were so exhausted.

Sue gave Johnny a  _ Look _ when they walked back inside the building that he rolled his eyes at. He was still going to ask Darcy out,  _ duh, _ but Sue didn’t have to give him the stink eye about it. They helped Darcy get the dogs back to their pens with minimum fuss and went back out to the lobby.

“Thanks so much for coming, guys,” Darcy said, “We really appreciate the help. Feel free to come back whenever.”

Sue said something in return, but Johnny was too busy trying to psych himself up and beat down his nerves to listen to what she was saying. Which was ridiculous, because Johnny Storm  _ did not _ get nervous around pretty girls. Nope. Not at all. 

Once his sister made a hasty retreat out the door, Darcy turned to Johnny with an amused yet questioning gaze. Having beaten down his nervousness as much as he could, Johnny gave Darcy another one of his genuine smiles. He ignored her unspoken question and instead put forth his own.

“Want to go to the movies sometime? Or maybe dinner or something? I’d like to see you again when maybe we don’t have my sister and nine of Malibu’s cutest dogs as an audience.”

Darcy’s expression was the absolute definition of surprise, though Johnny felt bolstered when he could see that it was  _ pleasant _ surprise. 

“Yeah, I’d like that. When are you free?”

“Whenever you are, beautiful,” he grinned.

Darcy laughed at his cheesy line, “Charmer. How about tonight? Movies?”

Johnny may or may not have nodded way more eagerly than he had planned. “I’d love to.”

“Great! Here, let me just…” Darcy spun and grabbed a scrap of paper off her desk and wrote something on it quickly before placing it in Johnny’s hand. “This is my favorite theater, seven-thirty okay?”

“It’s perfect, Darcy. I can’t wait.”

She blushed a little at his sincerity, but boldly stood on her tiptoes and planted a red kiss to his cheek as she ushered him out of the building. “See you then, hotshot. Now get, I’ve got work to do.”

Johnny remembered giving her a saucy wink in return, but other than that he met his sister in the parking lot and rode the bus home with Sue in a total daze. He didn’t even get embarrassed when Sue gave him a mirror to show him the bright red lips that were painted on his cheek. (He totally left them there the entire way home.)

  
  


The movie was good, but Johnny didn’t remember a minute of it. What he  _ did _ remember was the way Darcy looked when she met him outside the theater in that black sundress and purple boots. He remembered the way she shamelessly walked up to him and wound her arm through his, only the smallest look in her eye that betrayed her nerves. He remembered the way she leaned into his side as they sat down in the dark theater and held his hand throughout the entire movie. And Johnny would  _ always _ remember walking her to her car and the way that she pushed him against the yellow Jeep, kissing him with everything she had.

(Johnny was no slouch, either, so he made sure to kiss her back just as fiercely and to hold her as close to him as he could.)

When they finally parted for air, they had matching grins and dazed looks on their faces. And really, that just set off the theme for their entire relationship.

They couldn’t get enough of each other that summer. Johnny came to the animal shelter almost every single day to bring Darcy lunch and to help her walk the dogs or play with the other animals. Most nights they walked on the beach together (sometimes Darcy snuck out after curfew to meet him, apparently her Dad was overprotective as hell), hand in hand, and just talked until sunrise started lighting up the horizon. On days when Darcy wasn’t volunteering they would go out into the city and get into trouble. They’d cause some mayhem on the beaches or in the malls, anywhere really, acting like the punk kids that they were until someone came along and shooed them away. One of Johnny’s favorite memories was the time when they found an abandoned building and Darcy decided they were going to spray paint it. 

“It needs some love,” she had said, “some love and some color.”

They bought two big bags of spray paint and went to town on it for hours. None of it was patterned or made sense (there was flowers and animals and planets and movie quotes all jumbled together) but it was theirs, and Johnny thought it was beautiful. Unfortunately a cop strolled by when they were still painting and immediately came after them. Darcy didn’t even hesitate to drop her can and grab Johnny’s hand with a shouted,  _ “Run!” _

The first time they made lo-- _ had sex _ was only a couple weeks after their first date. It was awkward and fumbling but it was the best Johnny ever had simply because it was Darcy. He had worried that she was going to think they were moving too fast (they were no strangers to fooling around in the back of her Jeep, but everyone knew that sex was  _ more) _ , but Darcy had simply shut him up with a kiss and proceeded to rock his world. 

That summer was hands down, one of the happiest of Johnny’s life. And judging by the big goofy grin that Darcy wore all the time, Johnny could safely say it was the same for her. Johnny was so happy that he couldn’t even be embarrassed when he blurted out ‘I love you’ in the middle of their lunch just as Darcy took a humongous bite of a mustard-covered hot dog six weeks after their first date. Darcy simply swallowed her food, took a few gulps of her lemonade, then kissed Johnny just like she did that first time.

“I love you too, you dork.”

So of course, that night when he got home was when Johnny’s Dad said they were heading back to New York a couple of weeks early. 

Johnny dragged his feet to the park where he and Darcy usually met for lunch, two snowcones in his hands. Though he was devastated and heartbroken at the news of their move, Johnny refused to show up empty handed. Darcy never asked him to bring anything, hell, she’d even told him  _ not to, _ but the way she smiled when he did? It was totally worth the way his pocket felt a little lighter these days.

He had barely made it into her line of sight before Darcy could tell that something was off. “What’s wrong, Johnny?”

He kissed her and gave her a snowcone before he answered, wanting to make sure he got to do so at least once more before she got mad at him and left. She took a big bite of the treat and tilted her head at him, silently repeating her question. He had planned on easing her into the bad news, but instead his mouth got away from him, per usual.

“Dad say’s we’re headed home early,” he rushed out, “I’m so sorry, Darcy, I thought we’d get to stay longer and--”

Johnny was silenced by Darcy’s lips on his, slightly cold and tasting like blue raspberry. The kiss lingered and it was slightly bittersweet, but it was still good. “When do you go back?” she asked.

“Two weeks,” he grumbled.

Darcy’s voice was a little thick when she responded but still firm. “Well, we’ll just have to make the most of it then, won’t we?”

He could see the determination in her eyes that mixed with her love and good humor, and Johnny could feel himself smiling at his girlfriend’s stubbornness.

“Yeah, Darce, we’ll make the most of it.”

 

They spent the next two weeks doing just that. Darcy and Johnny got each other into trouble during the day and held each other close at night. It was a whirlwind of days passing, and suddenly Johnny found himself at the beach in the middle of the night with Darcy in his arms, knowing he had to leave in the morning.

Neither of them had talked about what would happen between the two of them when Johnny returned. It was something that had been killing Johnny slowly inside whenever he had thought about it over the last two weeks. Deciding there was no time like the present, Johnny braced himself for the dreaded conversation. 

“Darce? What are we gonna do?”

She pulled her head out from where it was tucked under Johnny’s chin, blinking up at him with those damn blue eyes that always did him in. 

“What do you mean?”

Johnny shuffled them around a little so they were more face-to-face before he answered, “I mean, you and me. What happens when I go home?”

Darcy went silent for a moment, eyes distant as she put together her thoughts. As she was lost in her own head Johnny took the time to look his fill. 

She was beautiful, and Johnny didn’t know what he did to deserve her. Okay, so he knew he was putting her up on a bit of a pedestal (she could be mean and rough around the edges just like everyone else, and had a horrible habit of drifting away mid-conversation) but Johnny still knew that she was too good for him. He was a punk who spent way too much time chasing girls at school and getting into trouble. Trouble with Darcy in Malibu was  _ fun, _ but trouble back home was  _ real _ trouble.

While Darcy thought of her own answer, Johnny shook those thoughts from his head and thought of his own answer.

Could they even be in a relationship on other sides of the country? They were just teenagers, and it’s not like they had the means to go visit one another. He loved Darcy, which was something he never thought he'd be able to say even to himself, let alone to her, but things would be so damn hard if they wanted to keep themselves together. Johnny normally was never one to back down from a fight, but he had no clue how they’d win this one.

“I think,” Darcy murmured, “That we let each other go.” Johnny’s confusion must have shown on his face because Darcy took a deep breath and continued. 

“I love you, Johnny, and this has been the best few months of my life. But we’re too young to try for something as heavy as a long distance relationship. The time change would make communication difficult as hell, and that’s the smallest of problems. I just don’t see how it could work. I’m sorry, I’m so s--”

Johnny pulled Darcy close when her voice began to shake with tears and shushed her. “Don’t be sorry, Darce, okay? I understand, I  _ do. _ ” He cleared his own throat of emotion before he pushed on. “I love you, Darcy, but you’re right. It won’t work.”

Darcy’s voice was small and muffled from where she pressed her face into Johnny’s neck but he could hear her just fine, as entwined as they were. “We had a good run, though, right?”

“It was the best, Darce, don’t you ever doubt that.”

The girl in his arms laughed softly at the vehemence in his tone, but Johnny knew it wasn’t mocking. “Promise you’ll stay out of trouble, hotshot?”

Johnny pretended to think it over for a moment, “Hmmm,  _ maybe. _ ”

She sighed, “I guess that’s the best I can hope for, huh?”

He pressed dozens of little kisses all over Darcy’s face to make her laugh before tucking her close once more. 

“You like trouble just as much, Darcy,” he said, “So maybe  _ you _ should promise to keep out of trouble.”

Darcy’s smile was wicked when she looked up at him, “Never.”

  
  


Years later when Johnny walked into Stark’s lab at Avengers Tower, he was thinking about Darcy. It happened from time to time, whenever he started to feel guilt about his ‘man trollop’ ways, as Sue called it. Would Darcy be disappointed in him? He hadn’t found a connection like he had felt with Darcy since then, but at the same time he knew that trying to find her and rekindle that flame would be disastrous. 

But when Johnny met her in the middle of the lab in front of both of their teams? He knew he just got his best friend back. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Darcy’s Jeep:
> 
> http://img.vast.com/320x240/-1952962592345953074
> 
> https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQKp02XW-YIvAOOzcQyYrCvaU1B-uXE3e9sDWothj3V4J4ATQhNgQ
> 
> https://img0.etsystatic.com/057/0/10628259/il_570xN.718864056_29l6.jpg
> 
> Darcy’s shirt:  
> http://www.dogspeakcards.com/images/2011.jpg


	3. The Babies Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> references to ch 58

Ref Ch 58

 

Darcy was kneeling in front of the toilet for the third time that day and Bucky was tired of feigning ignorance, but he played his part for another day. Bucky knew that his girl was smart as hell, but she tended to be a little blind when it came to herself. So if he had to wait another round of morning sickness before Darcy figured out what the hell was going on, so be it. 

“I’m  _ so  _ done with being sick,” she groused, “We have the super serum, for shit’s sake. Me getting sick should be impossible. I don’t understand what the hell is going on.”

Bucky just hummed in response, not needing to provide an answer when Darcy was violently sick once more. When she was done (for the moment) he handed her a bottle of water he had grabbed for her the moment he saw her dart for the bathroom minutes ago. Subtly was usually his ‘thing,’ but he changed his mind from moments before and decided that it was time for Darcy to face the music. “Well, I’m not sick, and neither are Steve or Natasha, so whatever you’ve got it’s ‘Darcy-Specific.’”

It took Darcy exactly one minute and twenty-two seconds before the metaphorical lightbulb went off. 

“Oh, fucking  _ hell.” _

*****

There was a lot of panicking on Darcy’s part, she’ll admit. She may or may not have had a near panic attack and she may or may not have fainted.

It was all speculation, really.

After the fainting-that-totally-did-not-happen, there was a lot of yelling on Darcy’s part.

“ _ How? _ I know we haven’t been using condoms ever, but I have an implant! I don’t care if you’ve got super swimmers, Bucky, the implant was designed for this!” She reached over with her right hand to prod her left bicep where the implant was embedded, only to find her usual soft skin instead of the hard plastic that had been put in years ago. Darcy squeezed her entire left arm from wrist to shoulder with her right hand, searching fruitlessly for the implant that she knew she wouldn’t find for a whole minute before she let her head droop in defeat. 

“I may not know much about modern medicine,” Bucky drawled, “But I’m  _ fairly _ certain that you’re not supposed to lose an implant.”

His tone was light, but Darcy could hear his underlying insecurity. Her head snapped up just in time to catch his devastated expression before he reigned it in. She thought back over her words and actions and cringed at how he must have interpreted them. Without wasting a moment Darcy left her perch in the bathroom doorway to cross the room to where Bucky sat on their bed. Her heart broke when he did his best not to look at her, even when she gently straddled his lap and placed his hands on her hips. 

“What’s wrong?” Darcy had an idea as to where his head was at, but she wanted to be sure.

Bucky’s hands squeezed her gently on her hips, but he still didn’t look at her as he spoke. “You just...you don’t seem  _ happy, _ doll. I mean, I get it: no one would  _ want _ to have children with the Winter So- _ mmph!”  _

Darcy pressed her lips so firmly against Bucky’s that she was certain it would bruise. 

“Don’t you  _ dare _ start on that shit again, Bucky.” She hissed when they parted, “I love you, more than I ever thought I could love another person. It is a privilege to be with you, and a goddamn privilege to have your children,  _ our  _ children. We’ve talked about this doubt of yours before, haven’t we? When we came back to the tower after our road trip?” she prodded gently.  

Bucky nodded, though he didn’t look convinced. Determined, she pressed on. “Am I shocked? Absolutely. But do I want this?” Darcy made sure to let every ounce of sincerity and hidden emotion bleed through both her words and her expression,  _ “Yes. _ More than  _ anything, _ Bucky.”

Darcy let Bucky search her face for honesty for what felt like an hour before the smallest of smiles began to twitch in the corner of his mouth. “You sure, Darce?” When she simply smiled and nodded and returned she was almost knocked breathless by the blinding smile on Bucky’s face. She only got to appreciate it for a couple moments before he hid his face in the small space between her neck and shoulder as he let himself cry out his joy. The next few minutes were spent with the pair clutching one another close and letting happy tears dampen each other’s shirts. After they had gotten their wits together once more, Bucky asked the important question.

“What the hell happened to your implant?”

Darcy sat back on Bucky’s legs with a huff as she thought for another minute or two. “I think it got destroyed when Thanos had me, or after, when the Well healed me. Either he accidentally cut it out while he had me or the Well didn’t think to put it back as I was healed.”

Bucky’s eyes grew hard and angry at the reminder of Thanos, squeezing her closer to him. Even though Darcy was safe in Bucky’s embrace four weeks later, he still had moments like this where he pulled her as close as she could get to him, determined to keep her safe in his arms. He shook the dark thoughts from his mind and smiled up at Darcy warmly instead. 

“So despite the bad, we got some good out of it, yeah?”

She couldn’t help but to plant another firm kiss against his lips. 

“Yeah, we got a lot of good out of it, Bucky.”

*****

They had exactly one month of secrecy before they were found out. Four weeks of knowing smiles and domestic bliss before Darcy opened up the apartment door to find Thor, Loki, Wanda, and Vision at the threshold with beaming smiles on their faces. 

Rolling her eyes, she pulled the door open all the way and motioned for them to come it. 

“Damn telepaths and gods of fertility,” Thor just laughed heartily at Darcy’s disgruntled tone and mock-glare, “can’t have any privacy around this damned facility.”

The four Avengers simply laughed and brought Darcy and Bucky into more ‘congratulations’ than she could bother to count. After a lot of celebration ( _ all  _ the hugs) the four interlopers finally allowed themselves to be sat down and given a stern lecture on the finer points of secrecy, seeing as Darcy’s father wasn’t made aware of the new family addition yet. Thankfully, everyone solemnly vowed to keep their traps shut until Darcy and Bucky broke the news to Tony and Pepper after her first trimester.

It’d be a long month, that’s for sure. 

*****

It was just a few days after the official end of Darcy’s first trimester, and subsequently, the Day They Were Going To Tell Tony. Bucky was a little nervous, to be honest. He tried to let the good feelings from yesterday on the training grounds when Darcy had the bots mess with Steve and Sam, but it wouldn’t beat back his nerves for long.

Yeah, he and Tony got along just fine, they always had surprisingly enough, but it was different when you were going to go up to your girl’s father and tell him his daughter was pregnant with your super-baby. Awkward didn’t begin to cover it, Bucky thought. 

“Will you  _ stop _ fidgeting?” Darcy groaned. Bucky could see her roll her eyes in her reflection in the mirror. It was kind of impressive, seeing as she was still able to keep a steady hand on her eyeliner as she did so.

Bucky threw up his hands in surrender, “Sorry, sorry,” he mumbled, “Just nervous, is all.”

Darcy smiled knowingly at him, but that didn’t seem to stop her second eye-roll. “Baby, Dad may be a bit of an ass, but he likes you. He wouldn’t have let you near me--regardless of what I had to say about it--if he didn’t, let alone give you that new paintjob.”

He felt a fond smile grace his lips as he looked down at his metal arm. Where there was once a bloody star that carried the weight of his sins as the Winter Soldier was now the outline of Steve’s shield done in black, right where the star used to be, while a red whip wrapped around his metal arm from shoulder to wrist. It was one of the first things he asked for when he and Darcy landed on the roof at Avengers Tower. 

The whip and the shield were symbols of the two people that made him whole, that made him  _ Bucky _ again. Steve began tearing down the programming down in D.C., and Darcy brought him the rest of the way home. Also, it had an added benefit of practically screaming ‘Fuck you!’ to Hydra that never failed to make Bucky crack a grin when he thought of it. Not to mention the media frenzy that happened when someone managed to capture a photo when he had stepped out of the Tower that first week with Steve and Darcy for a beer or ten. 

The rumors made Stevie blush and stutter for  _ months. _ It was amazing, to say the least.

Darcy’s soft hand on his rough cheek brought Bucky out of his reverie. “You ready to face the music, Bucky?”

“Hell no,” he laughed, “But let’s go share the good news, yeah?”

After what felt like zero time at all, Bucky was clutching Darcy’s left hand with his flesh one with (almost) everything he had under the dinner table. Vision had a knowing twinkle in his smile but he kept his trap shut as he chatted with them all. Tony had that look in his eye that told you he knew there was something shady going on, but he hadn’t figured it out yet. Which was unfortunate, because the dinner Pepper had made for the five of them deserved all of Bucky’s undivided attention. They were able to manage finishing the meal before Tony’s patience finally broke.

“Okay, what the hell has Robocop's panties in a twist?” He leaned forward and narrowed his eyes at Bucky since he knew that he was the weak link. Tony folded his hands under his chin as he rested his elbows on the table, leaning as far into Bucky’s personal space as he could with the table between them. “You’ve got a sneaky look in your eye, Barnes, what secrets are you keeping?” 

Sure, Bucky was the world’s greatest spy and assassin for the greater part of a century, but he wasn’t made of Vibranium, for fuck’s sake. 

So he caved.

“Darcy’s pregnant,” he blurted.

The silence that followed was deafening and dragged on for what felt like ten years. Pepper was the first to react with a high pitched squeal of delight that was so loud even Bucky winced at the sting to his super hearing. All at once Darcy and Bucky were scooped into a deceptively strong hug by Darcy’s mom. She was babbling teary congratulations to them both and thankfully Darcy had enough of a brain to reply back to her mom with happy tears of her own. Bucky, however, was too busy being pinned by Tony’s gaze to do anything. 

Tony was caught somewhere between joy and fear, though his expression had been frozen since Bucky’s outburst. His eyes were darting back and forth, unseeing, between Bucky’s own as he tried to get his thoughts in order. Vision prodded Tony’s cheek with a finger to get a reaction with no success. 

“I think you may have broken Tony,” Vision sighed.

As if speaking his name brought the man back to them, Tony shook his head and dropped his hands to the table. After a moment of contemplation he looked to Darcy with wide eyes. “I’m gonna be a grandpa?”

Darcy reached across the table and placed one of her hands over her father’s, smiling gently at Tony the entire time. “Yeah, Dad, you’re gonna be IronGramps.” 

His face broke out in a wide grin and he opened his mouth to say something witty, Bucky was sure. However no one, least of all Tony it seemed, expected him to start crying at that moment.

Darcy was quick to round the table and wrap her arms around Tony as he shook with happy tears in his kid’s arms. Bucky wiped a few tears of his own at the display and smiled at Pepper when he saw her do the same thing. Vision looked around them all and smiled. 

“This will be good.”

*****

Since Bucky was out on a small mission with Steve and Pepper was over in Spain for an SI thing, Tony was the one who joined Darcy for her first ultrasound. She and Bucky had snuck off the facility grounds to find a clinic to confirm her pregnancy with a blood test, but they didn’t want to let some stranger check out the super baby. So it ended up being a bit of a family thing in the medical wing for Darcy’s appointment between Darcy, Tony, and Bruce. Bruce fiddled with the ultrasound machine as Tony held his kid’s hand as she sat on the examination table. He squeezed her hand when she began to fidget from her nerves. 

Tony wanted to get the all clear on the baby, mainly so he could go shout the news to the entire team. He was going to rock the  _ shit  _ out of this grandpa role and everyone needed to know. He looked up just in time to see Bot roll her eyes at him as if she could hear his thoughts.

Bruce used his feet to drag him and the ultrasound machine over to Darcy. “Alrighty, let’s check on the baby, yeah?” He smiled warmly up at Darcy and patted her on the knee. It was a small gesture, but Tony knew that his Science Bro was just as excited about the baby as the rest of them. 

In what felt like no time at all, Bruce was smearing a cold jelly on Darcy’s lower stomach with the wand of the machine. “Okay, here’s your ovaries, so if we just go down a little bit... _ there!” _

The three of them went silent as the tiny little  _ tha-thump tha-thump _ filled the room. Darcy laughed almost disbelievingly at the tiny little bean-like shape on the screen. “Hi, super baby!”

Tony chuckled along with his daughter, but stopped when Bruce began moving the wand again. 

“Hey, go back,” Tony said, “I wasn’t done staring at the spawn.”

“Hold on a second Tony, I thought I heard…” Bruce moved the wand around some and everyone froze as a second shape came on screen.

“Is that…?” Darcy whispered.

Bruce nodded and moved the wand once more and let out a huff of laughter as a third little heartbeat came up.

Three. 

There were  _ three babies. _

“Oh, shit,” Darcy breathed, “Check for more, Bruce, holy hell.”

Bruce nodded and kept moving the wand until he was certain there was only (ha-ha _ only)  _ three babies. He stilled the device when he was finally able to get all of the tiny babies in the same shot. With one hand he captured the image on the computer and began printing copies. Tony let himself have a small moment to quirk his lips in amusement when he noticed that Bruce had set the printer to make a solid twenty pictures. He had no doubt that almost everyone would want a copy. 

As the machine did its thing, Bruce turned back to Tony and Darcy with a dazed expression. Though Tony was sure Bruce’s face had  _ nothing  _ on whatever the hell was going on with his own, or Darcy’s for that matter.

“So,” Bruce drug out the word until Tony was sure it had about ten ‘o’s, “Triplets. Yay?”

Tony snorted a laugh then looked up to his daughter who still sat on the exam table. “Yay?”

Darcy’s eyes were wet when Bruce handed her a copy of the ultrasound. She traced over the image of her children with her fingertips before breaking out into the biggest smile Tony had ever seen.

“This is definitely a ‘yay’ moment,” Darcy laughed, “Oh my god, Bucky’s going to flip his shit!”

Tony stood to wrap his kid in his arms and laughed with her, “I bet he’s going to stand frozen for a solid ten minutes before he figures out what to say.”

Bruce hummed contemplatively as he got dragged into the hug by Darcy. “Twenty dollars says he faints.”

“You’re on, Science Bro.”

*****

Three days later when Darcy broke the news to Bucky in their apartment, she rolled her eyes and texted her father.

_ < Bruce just got $20 richer.  _

_ > Totally worth it. He’s never living this down. _

Darcy prodded her Bucky with her foot, smiling at his sprawled out form on the ground.

“Such a drama queen,” she muttered.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	4. Coulson's Troublemakers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> takes place after ch 49 at the Avengers Facility

Coulson looked between the two young women sitting on the other side of his desk and sighed. He thought he was done dealing with these sorts of... _ disturbances _ when Clint finally became partners with Natasha all those years ago. Natasha had a way of keeping Clint out of trouble without stifling him, for which Coulson was grateful for. 

He focused back on Skye and Darcy, using his years of patience to refrain from rolling his eyes at their ‘innocent’ expressions. 

“You two can stop that,” he sighed, “It won’t work on me.”

As one the two girls fell into their usual smirks and mischievous eyes. Coulson resisted the desire to drop his head to his desk. 

“I feel as if it shouldn’t need to be said, but I suppose I was mistaken,” he began, “This is a state of the art facility for both the Avengers and SHIELD to train and prepare to fight against the evils of the world.  _ Not  _ a high school. The pranks have. To.  _ Stop.” _ He punctuated each word with a slap of his hand on the desk, the little good it did. 

Darcy looked like she was about to open her mouth to protest but he held up a hand to quiet her. Everyone knew that they were behind all the pranks, no matter how much they tried to deny it. He opened the file on his desk with a flourish and began reading off the girls’ offences.

“Two weeks ago: Pietro got a message from FRIDAY that told him that Steve wanted to meet with him in the track room for a race because, and I quote, ‘I have super-serum, bitch, and you can’t out-run me,’ end quote. Despite all the evidence we have that  _ does _ prove that Pietro is faster than Steve, Pietro took the bait. When he ran into the room he immediately lost control because the floor was covered in a layer of KY Jelly. Due to his high speed, Pietro burst through the back wall where a bucket of glitter was waiting to fall on him on the other side.”

He looked up from the paper to level a Look at Darcy and Skye, unconvinced by their shrugging. Coulson kept reading. 

“Only a couple days after that, Clint crawled into the vents at Tony’s request, only to get bombarded by Fen and BIT, who somehow managed to steal all of his clothes and left him only a pink unitard in return.” He sighed with exasperation, “I think we can all agree that was a dark day?” Clint had refused to change out of the unitard and had taken great pleasure in hopping down from the vents to scare others before hopping back up them like some demented whack-a-mole. No one was safe. 

“One week ago: During a press conference where the Avengers were in uniform, Tony’s suit began malfunctioning. Each time he so much as moved, a farting noise would play through the suit’s speakers.” It was a live televised event that was meant to build support for the Avengers after the Ultron incident. People were encouraged to ask any and all questions they had for the Avengers and were given honest answers (barring anything deemed ‘classified,’ of course). It wouldn’t have been so bad, had Tony been able to spend more than three seconds without fidgeting. Each twitch of his muscle that was captured in his suit caused the damn thing to fart,  _ loudly. _ Once Tony began to shake with laughter, it was game over. He then began making the suit fart on purpose when his teammates spoke, much to his manic delight. 

Coulson gave up his composure and rolled his eyes when Darcy and Skye began to snicker at the memory, but he kept reading.

“The next day Natasha went to the shooting range, only to discover that each time she fired a gun, it made ‘ _ pew-pew’  _ noises _. _ ” He bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from smiling since he knew the girls would see it as surrender. This was his favorite prank, simply because of the engineering genius behind it. Coulson was impressed that the girls were able to silence every weapon’s discharge and replace it, all without harming the mechanics of each gun. Seeing Natasha ‘lose her cool’ was a delight as well. Coulson cleared his throat and continued to read from the report in front of him, “She then went through every weapon and round in the shooting range, only to discover that all weapons were compromised. Even her Widow’s Bites made the new noise.

“The following day former Director Fury came to tour the facility.  _ Somehow,”  _ Coulson raised his voice so that he could be heard above Darcy and Skye’s guffaws, “FRIDAY finished each statement Fury made with ‘in bed,’ much like a juvenile would with a fortune cookie.” There were just too many embarrassing instances for Coulson to pick his favorite from that day, though ‘I need you to put in some goddamn effort for me-- _ in bed _ ’ may have taken the cake, though. At that point Coulson had to wonder if the former Director was beginning to enjoy the attention from the prank. The bit of mischief in his good eye was too quickly replaced by his usual stoicism for Coulson to be entirely sure he had seen it in the first place. 

Darcy and Skye had given up their attempt to silence their laughter by the time Coulson had finished and the new Director had to use all his years of training to keep his no-nonsense expression in place rather than let himself join.

He couldn’t fault the young women their joy, though. Not with the lives they had led, and especially not with the danger that was bound to be on the way. Of course, that line of reasoning didn’t even touch on the parental feelings that had reared their head as of late. 

It was comforting, he realized, to have that sense of family. For years Coulson was surrounded only by fellow SHIELD agents, superiors and subordinates that only knew him as Agent Coulson. It was a safe practice to distance oneself from others within SHIELD since their life was too dangerous to form too many attachments. Clint and Natasha, miraculously,  became exceptions to that rule. 

Darcy had begun calling Coulson ‘Uncle Phil’ shortly after the Incident in New Mexico. He would like to say that he wasn't affected by the nickname, but Coulson was far too honest with himself to try to pull the wool over his own eyes like that. She would keep him updated with her and Jane’s travels as time passed though she made it clear that they were calls amongst friends rather than business calls. He never betrayed Darcy’s confidences to SHIELD, and the small defiance was almost thrilling to Coulson. Quickly he had begun to share his own stories (as much as he was able to without violating classified details) and personal anecdotes, just so he could hear Darcy’s laugh. Though she didn’t know it, Darcy was the first person he called when Captain Rogers was discovered in the ice.

After the Battle of New York, Coulson was forced to abandon all past ties to his family in order to remain with SHIELD. It was one of the most difficult things he had done, but he had done it. Thankfully, his contact with JARVIS was impossible for anyone to trace which allowed Coulson to keep tabs on his growing family and his friends in Avengers Tower. He had begun to find some new sense of purpose and balance on the Bus, but it was easily turned upside down with Skye’s appearance. 

It took time and a lot of trust, but eventually they had come to understand one another. Coulson had almost broken his vow of secrecy to call Darcy, wanting to tell her that he had found a daughter in Skye. The feeling wasn’t even something he had realized he was missing until he suddenly had it. He had nearly been mowed over by the rush of fear when Skye had been at death’s door because of Quinn, at a loss of what he would do if Skye didn’t survive.

Suddenly, Coulson understood Tony Stark a lot better than he once had. 

Coulson was broken out of his musings when the file he had been reading from was snatched out of his hands by Skye.

“I kind of want to take a picture of this, or frame it for posterity’s sake,” she grinned wide as Darcy cackled in agreement. “You didn’t even read all of them, AC, I’m hurt. The one involving Steve and the rubber ducks is one of my favorites.”

He rolled his eyes at her pout, “Would you have me put it on the communal fridge for everyone to see?” He groaned as the two women’s eyes lit up with glee at the idea. He should know better than to try to out-snark the pair, truly. 

“Uncle Phil,” Darcy exclaimed, “That’s a great idea!” 

Skye nodded along with her friend as they both stood from their seats. “You  _ do _ have the best ideas, Dad.” Her voice held her usual bravado but he could see the nervousness in her eyes as she looked down at him.

Coulson’s eyebrows flirted with his (unfortunately receding) hairline at the name. He and Skye had never truly talked about their developing familial relationship, so it was a shock to hear her voice it aloud. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t have to fight the urge to tear up at her words, though. 

Thankfully, he was able to get his act together before he embarrassed them all. “Get out of my office, girls,” he waved them away with a shooing motion of his hand, “Before you’re both grounded.”

Darcy and Skye shared a knowing look at one another before hurrying from the room, Darcy throwing him a thumbs up over her shoulder when Skye was too busy reading the file in her hands to notice. 

_ So cute, _ Darcy mouthed at him, causing Coulson to roll his eyes. 

He was thankful every single day that he had found these two girls, who saw him as Phil before they saw Agent Coulson, who reminded him that he wasn’t the Ice-Man that he was trained to be. Coulson wondered if they knew  just how much they had changed him over the last several years. 

He took a moment to smirk at the sight of the ‘kick me’ signs he had managed to plant on their backs when they had entered his office. 

_ Yes, _ he thought,  _ they definitely knew. _

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so this was supposed to be just a lot of laughs, but then a wild FEELS appeared and it got a lot more introspective than I anticipated. (shrugs)
> 
> as always, hope you enjoy!


	5. The New Stark

Vision stood on Laura’s front porch, eyes on the stars, and thought about his first several days of new life. It had been overwhelming, to say the least, but he had his family to help him acclimate to this new journey. He frowned in consideration at the thought. 

Things were as they’ve always been when it came to his friends and family, yet at the same time nothing was the same at all. JARVIS was a part of Vision, just as Ultron was. Together with the Mind Stone and the cradle they created something new entirely. Vision had JARVIS’s memories and voice, but the part of him that came from Ultron altered him just enough to prevent his ability to consider himself JARVIS. 

So why did he still see the Avengers as friends and family, if he wasn’t JARVIS? Why didn’t he hate them, if part of him came from Ultron? Vision dragged a hand over his face in exasperation, a gesture JARVIS had observed time and time again from Miss Potts. 

_ You’re thinking heavy thoughts, big bro, _ came Darcy’s voice in his head. 

Vision smiled. If anything, he was eternally grateful for the telepathic connection that still continued with Darcy in his new form. 

**_Heavy events have occurred, I cannot seem to help it,_** he replied wryly. 

He could hear Darcy’s footsteps move almost silently throughout the house behind him as his little sister made her way to him. 

_ What’s got you up in the middle of the night? _

Though Vision did not need to sleep, he understood Darcy’s sentiment. He waited until he heard the front door open before he answered her. 

“Everything,” he said simply, though nothing felt simple at all anymore. Vision turned to look at Darcy over his shoulder and smiled at her. “Why are you awake, little sister?”

She shrugged her shoulders, “I couldn’t sleep, then I heard you thinking and I figured I’d come keep you company. You and I haven’t really gotten a chance to talk yet,” Darcy shrugged again as she hopped down the steps to stand at his side.

Vision hummed in agreement, “I suppose I don’t know where to start. I am a new entity, though I retain much of JARVIS’ memories and feelings. It’s...messy.”

Darcy smirked at his less than eloquent descriptor, “Welcome to having a corporeal form, Vision, everything is messy and nothing makes a lick of sense.”

“You’re about as reassuring as Loki is,” he rolled his eyes then sighed. “I am sorry, Darcy, that you no longer have JARVIS.”

His little sister’s smirk fell from her lips, though Vision noted that she did not seem angry. 

“It’s not your fault, Vision, you didn’t ask to be brought into the world. JARVIS knew the risks when he downloaded himself into Helen’s cradle.” She turned away from  the darkness in front of them to look up at his face instead. “No one expects you to be JARVIS, despite however much of him is or isn’t living on within you.” 

“Do I grieve for my brother? Absolutely,” Darcy continued, “But don’t think for a second that I’m not celebrating the fact that you’re here, Vision.”

Taken aback by her vehemence, Vision was too startled to say much of anything for the longest moment. After he gathered his thoughts, he spoke softly.

“So you do not mind that I am not JARVIS, but you still see me as your brother?”

Darcy nodded firmly as a smile turned up the corners of her mouth. “Exactly. I like to think of it as  your really extreme version of what happened to me when I was thirteen.”

It took him a moment to find the memory, but when he did he laughed. “Yes, I suppose this could somehow count as the ‘puberty stick beating the crap out of me,’ as Tony had put so nicely.”

Vision’s sister bumped her shoulder gently against him in a gesture of comfort. “We all change at some point, Vision,” she said, “Whether that means putting an Arc Reactor in your chest, getting pumped full of Extremis or Super Serum, or even getting a new Vibranium body.” Darcy’s voice lilted with a tease, but Vision could hear the sincerity underneath. “But it doesn’t mean we love our family any less. Starks are a stubborn bunch.”

With a feeling much like relief, Vision finally let the tension leak from his mind and body at his little sister’s words. “I was afraid of your reactions to the change, I think,” he admitted, “That despite my similarities to JARVIS you all would see me as something far too  _ other _ to love as you loved him. Thank you, Darcy, for showing me that my fears were unfounded.”

Darcy tucked herself under his arm with a happy little hum as he raised it to pull her close. Vision closed his eyes as contentment washed over him, just as it did when he first hugged Darcy. JARVIS had memories of wanting to pull his little sister close like this, to provide comfort to the tiny human who was the best thing to ever stumble into his and Tony’s lives. 

Tightening his arm around Darcy, Vision let himself smile as he opened his eyes to look up at the stars once more. He knew danger was coming for Darcy, for them all, and it was bound to rock the foundations of their lives. But with his sister at his side, Vision couldn’t help but to believe that they’d be alright. 

 

 

 


End file.
